In A Blink of An Eye
by jstar1382
Summary: "Little moments in our life seem to happen in the blink of an eye, don't let them pass us by..." Collection of moments in the Medical Attention/Family Practice universe (Thanks to Nadia for the cover art)
1. Ice Cream

_A/N: These will be little moments that span through Medical Attention all the way past where Family Practice will end. Just little snapshots into their lives that don't necessarily fit within the main story. Pure fluffy fluff. Some will be duel posted to tumblr as well._

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 **_In A Blink Of An Eye_**

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 _Little moments in our life seem to happen in the blink of an eye, don't let them pass us by..._

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 _ **Ice Cream**_

"Ice cream?"

Kate looked down at the two year old, Charlotte Rodgers, as she tugged on her mother's pant leg. Smiling at her daughter, she crouched down to kiss her forehead. Each day the little girl surprised her more and more with new words she had learned. Apparently today was the day to reveal another.

"What's that, Baby?" she asked, brushing the child's bangs out of her eyes with her free hand. Liam moved over to the pair, a knowing expression painted across his boyish features.

"I think she wants more ice cream," he attempted a whisper as he spoke loudly into his mom's ear. One thing Liam Rodgers could never be described as was quiet. She nodded and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"I think so, too," she said with a soft smile toward her son. "I was just surprised. I didn't realize she knew that word."

"Daddy taught her." His voice was so matter-of-fact that she had to bite down on her lip to hold back her laugh. She loved her son so much.

"Of course he did."

"He said he taught her all the important words," he explained. Kate smiled and turned toward the sound of Rick approaching with the rest of the ice cream from their favorite little shop located down the street from the family loft. Alexis had discovered it on her way home from the library earlier in the summer and they'd made weekly trips ever since. Rick's daughter couldn't make today's trip since she was busy with friends, but Liam had insisted on getting Lexis's favorite flavor. His world revolved around his sisters. Obvious by the way he was currently dancing around the sidewalk with Charlie, their high pitched giggles ringing through the air.

"Important words?" Kate said, laughing, eye brow arched toward her husband.

"Yeah, you know. Like ice cream – how is ice cream not an important word?" Rick asked, feigning innocence. He pressed a quick kiss to her temple before handing Liam his ice cream cone.

She looked down at her daughter and shook her head. "Can't say her name, but can say ice cream…" Kate teased, playfully swatting her husband's behind and turning back to her melting dessert to give it a quick lick.

"C's are hard letters…" he mumbled, nearly causing her to spit out the bite she had in her mouth.

"Rick? Cream? What does that start with?" she joked, looking back at him as the family walked toward the playground located across the street.

"Point taken."

"Charlie, baby, can you say your name?" Kate asked, pulling the girl into her arms as they sat down on the swing together.

"Ice cream," Charlie repeated, her tiny voice full of confidence.

"Maybe you should've named her ice cream?" Liam giggled, jumping up onto the swing situated between his parents.

"Buddy, you're not helping," her husband said, reaching over to ruffle the hair on top of their son's head.

"Baby Girl, can you say your name for mommy?"

"Ice cream," she sang.

"Maybe we can work on this again tomorrow? Her speech patterns are perfectly fine for her age…" he assured her.

"Don't use your pediatrician speech on me," she said, rolling her eyes when he stuck his tongue out at her. Sometimes she wondered how the man-child husband that she loved dearly could have ever been focused enough to last through medical school.

"She has a very expanded vocabulary. Relax, Kate, our little girl's a genius," Rick beamed.

"She just has you wrapped around her little finger."

"But her little fingers are so cute," he mused. He did have a point though. Her fingers and her toes and – they made a pretty cute kid.

"Ice cream." A cute kid who had forgotten how to say anything else; maybe there was a reset button somewhere?

"Mommy?" Liam asked, his voice growing concerned.

"Yeah, Buddy?"

"I think she just wants some ice cream…"

Crap! In her concern about the words Charlie knew, she had failed to pay attention to the fact that her daughter was actually asking her for something.

Mother of the year.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart. Here you go."

She scooted off of the swing to adjust her daughter so they could share a couple tastes of the ice cream cone.

"Yum!" Charlie squealed, giggling as she helped Kate finish the rest of the cone. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her husband's face stretch into a huge grin.

"What?"

"You're cute," he stated, popping the rest of his dessert in his mouth.

"Who's cute?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Charlie!" Their daughter shrieked her name loud enough for it to echo through the park, leaving her family stunned for a couple seconds before they all started laughing at the outburst.

"See! I told you my little girl was a genius," Rick said, breaking their laughs.

"Ice cream?"

Kate scrubbed her hand down her face. Good thing she was cute.

"She just really likes ice cream," Liam added, before reaching for her hand, both trying to comfort her while also defending his sister.

And really, that wasn't such a bad thing.

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 _This was based on a photo prompt from the Castle Fanfic Blog on tumblr. Check out my blog on tumblr my url is jstar1382 to see the photo that inspired this if you'd like._

 _Thanks so much for reading!_

 _xoxo_

 _Thanks to my girls for the quick read through ;)_


	2. Her Boys

_A/N: Thanks for the lovely comments last chapter!_

 _This chapter based on a photo prompt that is posted on my tumblr._

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 ** _In A Blink Of An Eye_**

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 _Little moments in our life seem to happen in the blink of an eye, don't let them pass us by..._

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 ** _Her Boys_**

It was by chance that she was walking by the bathroom that morning.

Rick had already kissed her goodbye and Liam had wrapped his little arms around her neck to give her a butterfly kiss on the cheek as she scooted out the door. Typical morning in the Rodgers' household, but today she was a little rushed, receiving a call first thing that the ballistics reports had come in.

Hurrying out the door, she was nearly to the elevator when she realized she wasn't going to get far without her car keys. The set had been thrown on top of her dresser yesterday when she had changed her clothes before Liam's preschool concert; their placement had slipped her mind when she had gotten ready this morning. Luckily she had realized before she had made it all the way to the street.

She had intended to just sneak back into the loft without either of the men of the household realizing. Each time she had to say goodbye, it was so much harder to leave again. Yet as much as she would love to lounge around all day with her two favorite boys, she had to be at the precinct, Rick had patients to see and Liam had to be at school. Their busy lives throughout the week, however, made weekends off so much more special.

Shaking her head out of her daydream, she toed through the living room into the bedroom and had her hand on the keys when she heard voices coming from their en suite.

"But I want to do it just like you do," Liam said, his voice carrying throughout the room, sparking her curiosity as her feet carried her toward the sound practically on their own.

She stood back in the doorway hidden from their view and smiled at the sight of Rick and Liam. The boys were standing near the dual sinks as her husband finished shaving the delicious stubble from his jaw.

"You're not old enough yet, Buddy," Rick explained, rinsing his razor in the stream of water from the faucet.

"It looks so cool and makes your face look so _silly_." A small giggle escaped his lips before he covered his mouth with his hand as Rick arched his eyebrow with a smile.

"You think I look silly?"

"Super silly!" Liam squealed.

"I'll show you silly," he said with a teasing ring in his voice. Rick reached for the can of shaving cream and sprayed a generous amount into the palm of his hand. "Scoot over here."

"I get to look silly, too?"

"You do."

Watching from the doorway, she pressed her fingertips to her smile as Rick started to smear the foam onto Liam's chin before he started to shake his head. "Daddy, let _me_ do it. Show me how."

He considered it for a second before he nodded, smiling at their curious little boy as he held out his hand. "Okay, Buddy. I'll show you." With a small chuckle, Rick propped the boy on top of the counter and reached for the can again, this time allowing a small mountain of foam to collect in Liam's hand.

She had to muffle her laugh at this point at the sight of both of them standing in front of the mirror. Liam only in his Avengers underwear and Rick in only his boxer shorts, both looking so serious as they worked on spreading the cream against their skin. Their son glanced over at Rick every once in awhile to make sure that he was doing it correctly.

Without even thinking about it, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone to snap a quick picture of the lesson. It was times like these that she was reminded how fortunate she was for finding such a wonderful man to be her partner and help raise her son.

"How's this?" Liam asked, giggling, as he continued to spread the foam on to his forehead, across his nose and onto his ears.

"Well that's a technique that I don't typically use, but good try," he mused, rinsing his hand and grabbing the hand towel from the granite countertop to wipe the extra shaving cream from Liam's skin.

"Do you think that's what Mommy does?"

"What do you mean?"

"Her skin is always so soft…" their son continued, touching his forehead as he wondered.

"Mommy doesn't have to shave her face, Liam," he said, love for the child's innocence laced in his tone.

"Oh. Is it because she's a superhero?"

She wanted to make her presence known, wrapping them both into a big hug, but at the same time she didn't want it to seem like she was spying on their little bonding moment.

"And soft skin is one of her superpowers?" Rick asked.

"Yep! One of many!"

"Could be," he said, his mouth stretching into a grin. "She definitely has superhero soft skin." Kate couldn't hold back her smile anymore, her cheeks hurting from being stretched so wide.

"She's my favorite superhero," Liam admitted, leaning over to Rick.

"Mine too, Buddy. Mine too." Rick helped him wash the rest of the shaving cream off of his face and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before Liam reached up to 'whisper' into his ear.

"Don't tell her though – she thinks I like the Hulk..."

With that she decided to slip back out of the room and from the loft without saying a word, letting them have this time to themselves. She couldn't stop smiling as she rode the elevator down to the lobby.

Her boys.

They made searching for truth and justice each day definitely worth it.

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 _Thanks for reading everyone! I'd love to hear from you!_

 _xoxo_

 _Thanks Esther for the quick read through!_


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